WOLCOTT – Rachel Givens, a 2016 graduate of Wolcott High School, has received a 2019 Leslie R. Leeds Memorial Scholarship, one of just three scholarships awarded annually by the Connecticut School Transportation Association. It is the second time Givens has won the scholarship, last receiving a Leeds scholarship in 2017.

Givens will use the $1,000 scholarship to help finance her education at the University of Connecticut’s Waterbury branch where she is majoring in Human Development and Family Sciences. Givens is the daughter of Danielle and Roy Givens of Wolcott. Roy is a school bus driver in Wolcott for Waterbury-based All-Star Transportation.

COSTA, the organization representing Connecticut school bus companies, established the scholarship program 20 years ago in memory of Leslie R. Leeds, who died in 1996 at age 23. Leeds was a Burlington native and the valedictorian of the Class of 1991 at Lewis S. Mills High School. Her mother, Robin, served as the executive director of COSTA from 1982-2004.

The scholarship program is open to COSTA member employees and their dependents. Applicants must be enrolled in or accepted by an accredited institution of higher education, and applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Along with the completed application, high school or college transcripts, essay and two letters of recommendation are required.